[HELP] Mission won't load ingame after compile

Hello
I'm having troubles with Worldcraft:
When I first started making my map, I was able to compile it and play it ingame.
All of the sudden it stops working after compiling - I get the error the "Map '' not found"
I've tried changing the map name, using different versions of Worldcraft/Hammer and nothing works.
I can see the .scn file in the mission folder, and I can even view it using the third party .scn viewer. But it won't load in SWAT3.

Can anyone help me out?

Glad to see new map makers showing up.

The first question is does it actually give the error MAP NOT FOUND instead of SCN NOT FOUND?

The second question is did the .SCN file get placed into the correct folder? I remember long ago having that problem with Worldcraft suddenly dumping the .SCN into the wrong folder even though the configuration hadn't changed.


Make sure that the name given in the missioninfo.dat file matches your .SCN name and also to the mission folder name.   If you change the filename of the .RMF it will of course change your .SCN filename and then things won't match the missioninfo.dat file.

A final tip, off the top of my head, is make sure you are doing a FULL BUILD in EXPERT MODE in Worldcraft when you hit F9 to compile it.

Hello

It was giving me the error: Map '' not found

But actually everything is working now. After playing with the file paths, double checking (I swear this wasn't the problem but I re-pasted everything over again), and redoing some cells, the map compiles and loads up now. I'm leaning towards the problem was a map design issue.

Since I have you here, can you give any general map design tips in terms of AI? Like I'm not sure exactly how many waypoint nodes I should play in a room. I recall seeing on the Sierra sample map that there's like 3 waypoint nodes in a line for a doorway, and me emulating that seems to make my AI officers clear and navigate through rooms well. But yeah, any resources you can send me or tips you have would be greatly appreciated.

Everything is working now. But I'm having issues with textures. In the editor they appear fine but ingame they appear distorted and tiny.

Sorry about the troubles with the forums posting. I changed the spam filter that after your first approved post you then can post at will. It was previously set to 3.

As for your map problems Swat 3's build menu (F9) also can be a royal pain in the ass. All it takes is a slight error on that configuration screen and it will make your life hell, lol.

It does sound like your issue was cells and I am glad you figured it out.

Waypoints:

I don't claim to be an expert so perhaps Copy-cat will chime in here.

The waypoints see in a straight line so if geometry interrupts that line they won't work properly.  Once you have your portals placed and have working doorways you must overlap the waypoints in the doorway.  One waypoint on either side of the portal with slight overlap.  The AI then will stack up at the door before before proceeding into the next cell.

I highly recommend using the Swat 3 map browser on this website to view how the original developers made their maps.

Once you load a map you want to view I suggest you turn on waypoints and cells under the POINT ENTITIES and also Portals in the GEOMETRY section.   Then go to the NAVIGATION and choose "START FP VIEW" to move around the map in first person.

wrote:

Everything is working now. But I'm having issues with textures. In the editor they appear fine but ingame they appear distorted and tiny.
 

What textures are you using?  From what I recall that is probably because your textures are the wrong bit depth.  Try to make sure they are all 24 bit depth just like the textures included with the sample map.  I suspect you are using 8-bit textures.

Remember that according to the MOD HQ FAQ .wad files require texture names that are LESS THAN 15 CHARACTERS

From what I recall WALLY itself can export the textures for you in 24 bit.   According to an old community tutorial:

Now you have your textures in the WAD file, it's time to export them all back out! Select Options from the View menu to bring up the Wally options dialog box. Click on the Wally tab. The top left hand panel is titled Export Options. Set this to 24-bit and close the dialog box.

Finally, click on the button with the three dots on it above the scroll bar of the image list. This will select all the textures in the WAD file. Right click on the image list to bring up the popup menu and select Export. Set the output format to Windows Bitmap (*.bmp), set the output directory to where your bitmaps are and check the box next to Overwrite existing files. Click on OK to get Wally to export all the textures back out as 16M Bitmaps.